HELENA (AP) – Firefighters and residents are bracing for a return to more intense fire activity in western Montana where wildfires have scored thousands of acres and threatened some small communities.

A fire weather watch posted Sunday warned that gusty winds and low humidity were expected Monday afternoon in Glacier National Park and the Kootenai and Flathead national forest areas.

On Glacier’s southern boundary, a wildfire burning in the Great Bear Wilderness is about a mile south of the town of Essex where about 100 area residents have been advised to be ready to evacuate. The fire didn’t make any major runs over the weekend because of better weather conditions.

“Over the next couple of days we’re expecting to see increased fire behavior as the temperatures warm,” fire spokesman Jonathan Moor said. “So it’s difficult to predict what the fire is going to do in the next couple of days.”

Fire crews being demobilized from another fire that has burned 22 square miles in the park were being reassigned Sunday to help fight the fire near Essex.

Improved weather conditions over the weekend allowed officials to reopen U.S. Highway 2, although pilot cars were being used to escort traffic in the area closest to the fire.

Elsewhere, fire managers were discussing whether it was safe to allow people in the Noxon area near the Idaho-Montana border to return to their homes in the next few days. Residents of about 50 homes were evacuated last week.

Additional firefighters were being brought in to fight a fire that started Thursday in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest southwest of Butte.

Other fires continue to burn in the Lolo, Helena and Lewis and Clark national forests as well. Most fires grew little Saturday thanks to less wind and some rain and air quality had improved over the state on Sunday.

Firefighters were quickly pouncing on any new fires where they had resources available.